Method for providing personalized, targeted advertisements during playback of media

ABSTRACT

A media player is provided. The media player comprises a communications interface, a memory store containing a plurality of personalized advertisements, and a media playback component. The targeted advertisements are refreshed by receiving updates from the communications interface during some of the intervals when the media player is connected to a network. The targeted advertisements are indexed by a plurality of characteristics, the first characteristic being a creation date of the targeted advertisements. The media playback component is configured to play a media content, wherein the media content is stored separately from the targeted advertisements, and to play one of the targeted advertisements in the memory store selected based on the characteristics of the one of the targeted advertisements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/850,029, filed onSep. 4, 2007, entitled “Method for Providing Personalized, TargetedAdvertisements During Playback of Media,” by Jason R. Delker, et al.,now U.S. Pat. No. 8,060,407 B1 issued on Nov. 15, 2011, which isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes. This applicationcontains subject matter related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/617,707, entitled “Contextual Multimedia Metatagging,” by Wing K.Lee, filed Dec. 28, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference forall purposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

Media content and multimedia content may include text content, stillphotos and graphic images, video content, audio content, gaming content,a combination of these, as well as other media content. Media playersare configured to playback or present media content to a user, forexample playing an audio recording of a song, playing a video recordingof a movie, etc. Some media players may be specifically implemented formedia playback, for example a digital video disk (DVD) player. Othermedia players, however, may be multi-functional devices that include themedia playback capability as one of many functions. For example, amobile phone may include a media player capable of playback of variousmedia and multimedia content, as well as including mobile telephonecommunication functionality, email communication functionality, etc.Media players may have network communication interfaces that promote themedia player accessing media and multimedia content through the networkcommunication interface, for example downloading an audio recording of asong or downloading a video segment from a network entity, such as acontent server.

Advertisers are interested in coupling advertisements with media andmultimedia content in various ways. For example, DVDs are oftendistributed with embedded advertisements and/or promotional offers thatare played before the featured movie plays, sometimes referred to as“trailers.” Advertisers are becoming increasingly interested indistributing advertisements to selectively targeted persons or tospecific classes of persons who are known to have an above averageinterest in the content of the advertisement. The interests of classesof persons, for example men over 40 with annual household income over$100,000, may be analyzed by marketing studies. The interests ofindividuals may be known through interest and usage profiles built fromcaptured purchase information and media consumption behaviors collectedat a point of sale or by monitoring communications of the individual.This type of advertising may be referred to as targeted or personalizedadvertising. Targeted advertising may promote reduction of advertisingcosts by permitting advertisers to forgo paying for distribution ofadvertisements to persons who show a low likelihood of respondingfavorably to the advertisement.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a media player is disclosed. The media playercomprises a communications interface, a memory store containing aplurality of personalized advertisements, and a media playbackcomponent. The targeted advertisements are refreshed by receivingupdates from the communications interface during some of the intervalswhen the media player is connected to a network. The targetedadvertisements are indexed by a plurality of characteristics, the firstcharacteristic being a creation date of the targeted advertisements. Themedia playback component is configured to play a media content, whereinthe media content is stored separately from the targeted advertisements,and to play one of the targeted advertisements in the memory storeselected based on the characteristics of the one of the targetedadvertisements.

In another embodiment, a method of distributing advertising isdisclosed. The method comprises embedding metatags in a media content,wherein the metatags designate a subject category, analyzing a usagehistory of a media player to identify a usage profile of the mediaplayer, and transmitting a first plurality of targeted advertisements tostorage on the media player during intervals of network connectivity ofthe media player. The targeted advertisements are selected based on theusage profile of the media player. The method also comprises playing themedia content on the media player and selecting one of the targetedadvertisements in storage on the media player, where the selecting isbased on the media player reading one of the metatags embedded in themedia content during the playing the media content. The method alsocomprises playing the selected targeted advertisement on the mediaplayer.

In a further embodiment, a method of operating a media player isdisclosed. The method comprises the media player storing in a memory ofthe media player a first plurality of targeted advertisements receivedvia a network interface of the media player, the media player playing amedia content, the media player receiving a control input, and the mediaplayer playing one of the targeted advertisements stored in the memoryof the media player based on the receiving a control input. The targetedadvertisement is selected to avoid interfering with the functionselected by the input.

These and other features will be more clearly understood from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, referenceis now made to the following brief description, taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein likereference numerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an advertisement distribution systemaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for advertisement distributionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of another method for advertisement distributionaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a further method for advertisementdistribution according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a different method for advertisementdistribution according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a handset suitable for implementing severalembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a handset suitable for implementing severalembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a software architecture of a handsetsuitable for implementing several embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary general purpose computer system suitablefor implementing the several embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrativeimplementations of one or more embodiments are illustrated below, thedisclosed systems and methods may be implemented using any number oftechniques, whether currently known or in existence. The disclosureshould in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations,drawings, and techniques illustrated below, but may be modified withinthe scope of the appended claims along with their full scope ofequivalents.

Advertisements that are embedded in and stored along with media maybecome stale and lose their ability to influence buying, charitablegiving decisions, or other behavior of the consumer of the mediacontent. For example, product advertisements embedded in and burned ontoa digital video disc (DVD) containing a movie may be irrelevant whenwatching the DVD two or more years after its initial release. A methodand system for storing a group of targeted advertisements, also known asan “ad ball,” on a media player during periods of network connectivityof the media player is described below. The targeted advertisements areselected for storing on the media player based on a usage profileassociated with the media player and/or associated with a user of themedia player. The media player is configured to select one of thetargeted advertisements for playback based on, for example, controlinputs received by the media player and based on other media playercontextual information. For example, the media player may select atargeted advertisement associated with a brand name that is embedded asa metatag in the media content currently being played back. The metatagmay identify a brand name of an electronics company. The usage profileof the media player may indicate an interest in state-of-the-art mobilephones, and consequently several advertisements for differentstate-of-the-art mobile phones may have been stored in the “ad ball” ofthe media player during a recent connection to the Internet. While theDVD that contains the embedded metatag may be several years old, themedia player can select an advertisement from the “ad ball” of the mediaplayer about the newest mobile phone promoted by the brand name of themetatag for play when a pause control input is received. Because theadvertisements are stored on the media player, the advertisements can beplayed back when the media player is off-line and not connected to thenetwork, for example when playing one or more DVDs on a laptop computerwhile flying on a long distance flight, for example, from Los Angeles,Calif. to Seoul, Korea.

The advertisements can be refreshed during intervals of networkconnectivity, for example when connecting to the network to access andstore media content or to check email. Later, more up-to-date targetedadvertisements may replace earlier, aged targeted advertisements. Thegroup of advertisements, the “ad ball,” need not be completely refreshedand replaced during every interval of network connectivity. Theadvertisements may be updated incrementally or in segments, alsoreferred to as trickle updating. The advertisements need not be updatedduring every interval of network connectivity, and update of the “adball” may be arranged to take place during intervals of low networkcongestion or as a lower priority of network traffic.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a system 100 is described for implementing one ormore embodiments of the disclosure. The system 100 comprises a mediaplayer 102, a base station 104, a communications network 106, a mediacontent server 108, a media content database 110, an advertisementserver 112, an advertisement database 114, and a usage profile database116. The media player 102 may communicate with the network 106 eitherwirelessly through base station 104 or through a wired connection 105.The media player 102 may be disconnected from the network 106 some ofthe time or even most of the time and operate off-line, for example whenout of range of the base station 104 or other wireless access device(not shown), when wireless communications are disabled while in flighton an airplane, or when disconnected from the wired connection 105.

The base station 104 is in communication with the network 106, providingnetwork access to the media player 102. The base station 104 maycommunicate with the media player 102 using any of a variety of wellknown wireless communications technologies including, but not limitedto, code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS),worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), WiFi,Bluetooth, and other wireless technologies.

The network 106 comprises one or more public switched telephonenetworks, one or more public data networks, and any combination thereof.The network 106 may carry a variety of communications traffic andpromote a variety of communications services including, but not limitedto, voice communications, media communications, multimediacommunications, streaming video content, streaming audio content, othercontent distribution, email communications, gaming services, internetprotocol (IP) based communications, HTTP communications, and othercommunications traffic.

The media content server 108 provides media and/or multimedia content toclients via the network 106, for example when the clients have paid fordownloading media content such as an audio file, a video file, amultimedia file, or other media content. In an embodiment, the mediacontent server 108 provides media content to the media player 102. Themedia content server 108 may obtain the requested media content from themedia content database 110, which is coupled to the media content server108, or from another source, for example from the network 106.Alternatively, the media content server 108 may obtain the requestedmedia from a distribution repository (not shown), for example via thenetwork 106. The media content may contain embedded metatags.Alternatively, the media content server 108 may dynamically embedmetatags in or otherwise associate metatags with the media contentbefore sending the media content to the media player 102.

The metatags may designate one or more of a subject category, a brandname, an age bracket, an income bracket, a regional designation, a sex,an education level, and a demographic signature. A demographic signaturemay be a composition of multiple demographic parameters. The metatagsmay promote playing targeted advertisements and/or providing productinformation to a consumer of media content. Additional details aboutmetatags are provided in the related U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/617,707, entitled “Contextual Multimedia Metatagging,” by Wing K.Lee, filed Dec. 28, 2006, which was incorporated herein by referenceabove. The media content server 108 may be suitably implemented as ageneral purpose computer system. General purpose computer systems arediscussed in greater detail hereinafter.

The advertisement server 112 provides targeted advertisements via thenetwork 106, for example to the media player 102. The advertisementserver 112 analyzes a usage profile associated with the media player 102and/or a user of the media player 102 that is stored in the usageprofile database 116. The advertisement server 112 selectsadvertisements to send to the media player 102 based on the analysis ofthe usage profile and based on metadata associated with theadvertisements. In an embodiment, the advertisement sever 112 may selectadvertisements to send to the media player 102 based in part on thecurrent position of the media player 102. The selected advertisementsare expected to be of interest to the user of the media player 102,wherefore the selected advertisements may be called targetedadvertisements.

The usage profiles stored in the usage profile database 116 may containdemographics information associated with the media player 102 and/or theuser of the media player 102 including a residence location, a householdincome level, a head of household age, a head of household educationlevel, a number of children, a marital status, a credit score, and othercharacterizing statistical data. The usage profiles may contain consumerhistory including a major purchase history, a credit card purchasehistory, a media content purchase history, an air travel ticket purchasehistory, and other purchase history. Additionally, the usage profilesmay contain characterizing information provided by the user of the mediaplayer 102, for example through a web site that encourages subscribersto a media content provider service to characterize their interests, forexample identifying hobbies, preferred genres of media content, socialactivity schedule, eating habits, working schedule, and othercharacterizing information. The usage profiles may include federatedidentity credentials and credit card information. The web site may behosted by the advertisement server 112 or by a web server (not shown) incommunication with the advertisement server 112 or having access to theprofiles database 116.

The advertisements database 114 may be maintained by the advertisementserver 112 or by another computer system (not shown). The advertisementdatabase 114 may include advertisement media content as well as metadataassociated with the advertisement media content. The metadata associatedwith the advertisement media content may also be referred to ascharacteristics of the advertisement media content. Some of the metadatamay be static and read-only while other of the metadata may be dynamicand writeable. The metadata may include information identifying a partyof interest, a number of distributions, a release date, a withdrawaldate, a version identifier, a brand name, a subject, a product category,a customer demographic signature, a media format, a playback durationand/or play length, and other information.

In an embodiment, the advertisement server 112 may poll the media player102 to determine when the media player 102 is connected to the network106. In another embodiment, the media player 102 may send a messageindicating readiness to receive updates of the targeted advertisementsstored on the media player 102 to the advertisement server 112, duringintervals when the media player 102 is on-line and connected with thenetwork 106. The advertisement server 112 may maintain a history ofconnection sessions of the media player 102 to promote scheduling futureconnection sessions. For example, the advertisement server 112 maydetermine that the media player 102 connects daily during working hoursand schedule refreshing or updating targeted advertisements on the mediaplayer 102 every Wednesday between 1 PM and 3 PM. In another embodiment,the advertisement server 112 may update the targeted advertisements onthe media player 102 daily. In another example, the advertisement server112 may determine no pattern for the media player 102 to connect to thenetwork 106, and in this case the advertisement server 112 may updatetargeted advertisements on the media player 102 every time that themedia player 102 connects to the network 106.

When the advertisement server 112 communicates with the media server102, the advertisement server 112 may handshake with the media player102 to obtain information about the status of the targetedadvertisements already stored on the media player 102, for example whichof the stored targeted advertisements have been played by the mediaplayer 102, how often these played targeted advertisements have beenplayed, which of the stored targeted advertisements have been skippedover and/or fast forwarded through by the media player 102. Thisinformation may be referred to as advertisement playback history.Advertisement playback history may be added to the metadata orcharacteristics of the targeted advertisements after they are stored onthe media player 102. Advertisement playback history alternatively maybe added to the appropriate usage profile of the media player 102 and/orof the user in a direct or abstracted form and stored in the profilesdatabase 116. The advertisement server 112 may use the playback historyof the already stored targeted advertisements to select additionaland/or replacement targeted advertisements from the advertisementdatabase 114 to send to the media player 102. The advertisement server112 may attempt to maintain an effective mix of targeted advertisementson the media player 102, for example short playback durationadvertisements, long playback duration advertisements, audio onlyadvertisements, ticker-tape type advertisements and/or scrolling messagetype advertisements, product advertisements, media contentadvertisements, service advertisements, and the like.

The advertisement server 112 may attempt to update or refresh anapproximate proportion of targeted advertisements on the media player102 during every communication session, for example one fifth of alltargeted advertisements stored on the media player 102. Theadvertisement server 112 may determine the proportion of targetedadvertisements refreshed during every communication session based on howoften the media player 102 connects to the network 106, by a roll-overrate of advertisements stored in the advertisement database 114, or bysome other dynamic parameter. The updating of a portion or segment ofthe targeted advertisements on the media player 102 may be referred to atrickle updating.

The advertisement server 112 may be configured to identify a first timeconnection of the media player 102 to the network 106 and to send alarger than usual set of targeted advertisements to the media player 102during this initial communication session. The advertisement server 112may be suitably implemented as a general purpose computer system.General purpose computer systems are discussed in greater detailhereinafter.

The media player 102 is configured to play and control playback of mediacontent of one or more media formats. The media player 102, for example,may be configured to play and control playback of media contentincluding text content, still photos and graphic images, video content,audio content, gaming content, a combination of these, as well as othermedia content. The media player 102 may be configured to play andcontrol playback of the media content serially, concurrently, and/orboth. In some contexts herein, the media player 102 may also be referredto as a multimedia player. In several embodiments, the media player 102may promote other functions, and the media play capability of the mediaplayer 102 may not be the principle capability of the media player 102,for example when the media player 102 is embodied as a laptop computer.The media player 102 may be a radio receiver, CD player, DVD player,television, set top box, desk top computer, laptop computer, tabletcomputer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), IPHONE, IPOD,or other media device. In some embodiments, the media player 102 may besuitably implemented as a handset or as a general purpose computersystem. Handsets and general purpose computer systems are described ingreater detail hereinafter.

The media player 102 comprises a playback component 118, anadvertisement memory storage 120, a communications interface 122, and amedia content memory storage 124. The playback component 118 may be ableto play a variety of media content and may be able to respond to variouscontrol inputs including, but not limited to, play, stop, pause, fastforward, reverse, skip forward, skip back, and other control inputs. Theplayback component 118 is configured to select and play one of thetargeted advertisements stored in the advertisement memory store 120,for example when playback of the media content is paused or when ametatag embedded in or associated with the media content is encounteredduring playback. The targeted advertisements may be stored in theadvertisement memory store 120 and may be coupled to characteristics ormetadata associated with each of the targeted advertisements.

In an embodiment, some of the media content may be stored on the mediaplayer 102, for example in a media content memory storage 124. Theadvertisement memory storage 120 and the media memory storage 124 may bedifferent regions or address ranges of a single memory component or,alternatively, the advertisement memory storage 120 and the media memorystorage 124 may be implemented in separate memory components or memorychips. The media content may be received by the media player 102 fromthe network 106 via the base station 104 or via the wired connection105, for example from the media content server 106. The wired connectionmay be a universal serial bus (USB) connection, a serial connection, anEthernet connection, or other wired connection. The media content mayalso be received by the media player 102 from another wireless source,for example via BlueTooth, WiFi, WiMAX, ultra-wideband (UWB), or otherwireless link or connection. In some contexts, the loading of the mediacontent via one or more wired or wireless connections may be referred toas side-loading media content to the media player 102. The media contentmay be provided to the media player 102 in the form of a DVD, HD-DVD,BLU-RAY DISC, memory stick, jump drive, magnetic tape, or otherremovable physical media.

In an embodiment, some of the media content may be advertisement linkedcontent, meaning the media content may be offered by a contentdistributor for free or at a discounted rate because playing the mediaentails seeing advertisements coupled to the advertisement linkedcontent. For example, when the media player 102 plays a free musiccontent, for example by the playback component 118, one of the targetedadvertisements may be selected from the advertisement memory storage 120and played by the playback component 118, before playing the free musiccontent. During playback of advertisement linked content some of thecontrol inputs of the media player 102 may be disabled to preventskipping or fast forwarding through the targeted advertisement.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a flowchart of a method 150 will be described. Atblock 152 a metatag is embedded in or associated with a media content,for example media content stored in media content database 110. Themetatag may be written into a file or other digital informationrecording structure storing the media content and stored in the mediacontent database 110. Alternatively, the metatag may contain a pointer,a link, or other means for associating itself with the media content. Inthis case, when the media content is delivered, for example by the mediacontent server 108, both the media content and the associated metatagsare served to the requesting client, for example the media player 102.Alternatively, the metatag may be embedded in the content by adistributor, for example a distributor of DVDs.

At block 154 a usage profile of the media player 102 or of a userassociated with the media player 102 is built. The usage profile mayinclude information provided directly by the user of the media player102, information characterizing the behavior and habits of the userbased on analysis of historical data of network communication activitiesof the user, demographic information about the user obtained fromvarious sources, purchasing information associated with the userobtained from retailers and financial entities, and other information.The process of building the usage profile may be on-going, wherein theusage profile evolves as new information accumulates about the user. Theprocess of building the usage profile may involve an aging component,wherein more recent information carries more importance than olderinformation. The usage profile may be stored in the usage profilesdatabase 116.

At block 156 advertisements are selected, for example from theadvertisements database 114, based on the usage profile and transmittedto the media player 102 to be stored in the advertisement memory storage120. The selection of advertisements allows the advertisementstransmitted to the media player 102 to be targeted to the media player102 or to the user of the media player 102, thereby increasing the valueof this advertising for a party of interest associated with theadvertising, for example a company marketing a product that has paid forthe advertisement. The targeted advertisements are sent to the mediaplayer 102 when the media player 102 is on-line or connected to thenetwork 106. The targeted advertisements are stored on the media player102, for example in the advertisement memory storage 120. The group oftargeted advertisements stored in the advertisement memory storage 120may be referred to as an “ad ball.” The process of sending targetedadvertisements to the media player 102 may be periodically repeated topartially update or refresh the targeted advertisements on the mediaplayer 102 or in the “ad ball” of the media player 102. The process ofsending targeted advertisements to the media player 102 may occuraperiodically, during random periods of connectivity of the media player102 with the network 106.

At block 158 the media player 102, for example the playback component118, plays the media content. The media player 102 may play a massdistribution DVD. Alternatively, the media player 102 may obtain themedia content from an on-line source, for example the media contentserver 108, in the form of a digital file. The media player 102 may beconnected to or disconnected from the network 106, either on-line oroff-line, respectively, during the playing of the media content.

At block 160 the playback component 118 encounters the metatag embeddedin the media content, as described above with reference to block 152. Inan embodiment, the playback component 118 may select one of the targetedadvertisements from the advertisement memory storage 120. This also maybe referred to as selecting one of the targeted advertisements from the“ad ball.” The metatag may identify a brandname, for example a major carmanufacturer, and be associated with a point in the media contentfeaturing a driving scene. The playback component 118 may search the “adball” and select a targeted advertisement for a car associated with thebrandname of the metatag. In another embodiment, the playback component118 may select the targeted advertisement for play based at least inpart on the current location of and/or the mobility status of the mediaplayer 102. The media player 102 may be capable of self-locating, forexample by using a global positioning system (GPS) chipset installed inthe media player 102, may be configured with its location, or may haveits general location determined based on its point of connection to thenetwork 106. The mobility status of the media player may represented byone of a finite number of mobility states, for example a stationarymobility state, a slow motion mobility state, and a rapid motionmobility state. The mobility status of the media player alternativelymay be represented as an approximate speed or velocity. In yet anotherembodiment, the playback component 118 may select the targetedadvertisement for play based at least in part on the time-of-day. Thedescribed selection scenario is exemplary, and many other processes forselecting a targeted advertisement for playback based on the playbackcomponent 118 based on metatags readily suggest themselves to oneskilled in the art, all of which are contemplated by the presentdisclosure. In another embodiment, some other component of the mediaplayer 102, other than the playback component 118, may select thetargeted advertisement for playback.

At block 162 the playback component 118 plays the selected targetedadvertisement. Because the targeted advertisements are stored on themedia player 102, for example in the advertisement memory storage 120,the advertisement can be played while the media player 102 is off-line,for example when the user of the media player 102 is flying on anairplane, riding in a vehicle, or when the device is out of coverage.Additionally, because the targeted advertisements are maintainedup-to-date on the media player 102, the targeted advertisements may besubstantially current, notwithstanding the date of the media content.

In another embodiment, the media player 102 may be a digital video disk(DVD) player that has connectivity to the network 106, or may beconnected upon occasion to the network 106, for reasons other thanobtaining media content for playback. The DVD player may be designed toreceive media content on disks. When the disk contains metatags, themedia player 102 may choose an appropriate ad for playback from the admemory storage when the media player 102 reads a metatag while playingback the media content on the disk. In an embodiment, the disk maycontain embedded advertisements that may rapidly become outdated. When astandard DVD player plays back the content on the disk, the embeddedadvertisement is played, even though it is outdated. When the mediaplayer 102 plays back the content on the disk, when the metatagassociated with the embedded advertisement is encountered, the mediaplayer 102 may determine that the embedded advertisement is outdated andmay instead select an updated advertisement from the ad memory storage120, for example an updated advertisement downloaded from the network106 during a period of connectivity, and playback the updatedadvertisement. In an embodiment, the updated advertisement may or maynot be targeted to a user of the media player 102 based on a usageprofile or usage history.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a flowchart of a method 170 will be described.The method 170 is substantially similar to the method 150, except thatin method 170 the playing of the targeted advertisement is triggered bythe media player 102 receiving a control input. At block 172 the mediaplayer 102 receives a control input.

At block 174 the playback component 118 selects one of the targetedadvertisements from the “ad ball” based on the control input. Theplayback component 118 may select the targeted advertisement based onthe context of the media player 102. For example, if the playbackcomponent 118 had been playing a DVD and the media player 102 receives apause control input, the playback component 118 may select a targetedadvertisement that features a video segment that repeatedly loops, forexample a movie trailer or some other advertisement. In another example,if the playback component 118 had been playing a DVD, and the mediaplayer receives a fast forward control input, the playback component 118may select a targeted advertisement that comprises an audioadvertisement so as not to interfere with the fast forward operation. Inanother embodiment, the playback component 118 may select the targetedadvertisement for play based, at least in part, on the current locationand/or the mobility status of the media player 102 and/or on thetime-of-day. Alternatively, the playback component 118 may select atargeted advertisement that can be displayed using a picture-in-picturedisplay format. Alternatively, the playback component 118 may select atargeted advertisement that comprises a ticker-tape type targetedadvertisement and/or scrolling message targeted advertisement at aborder of the display.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a method 180 will be described.The method 180 is substantially the similar to that of the method 170,up to block 182. At block 182 the media player 102 receives a controlinput while playing the targeted advertisement, for example a fastforward, a skip forward, a rewind, a slow motion, or other controlinput. In this event, the media player 102 creates a log entryassociated with this event recording, for example, the targetedadvertisement that had been in process of being played, the mediacontent that had been or continued to be played when the targetedadvertisement was played, the specific control input received, a time ofthe event, and other information.

At block 184 the media player 102 transmits the log entry, including anyother accumulated log entries, to a server during an on-line session,when the media player 102 is connected to the network 106. The servermay be the advertisement server 112 or some other server. The log entrymay be analyzed by the advertisement server 112, by the media contentserver 108, or other server to refine and evolve the process ofselecting targeted advertisements for the specific media player 102 thattransmitted the log entry and/or the user associated with the specificmedia player 102. The log entry may be used to refine and evolve theprocess of selecting targeted advertisements for all media players 102,as for example by a process of statistical analysis of a mass of logentries received from many media players 102.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a flow chart of a method 190 will be described.At block 192 the media player 102 receives a set of targetedadvertisements over or through the communication interface 122. This maybe an update or refresh of targeted advertisements for the media player102 or it may be an initial installation of targeted advertisements. Thetargeted advertisements are received during an interval of connectionwith the network 106, when the media player 102 is on-line.

At block 194 the media player 102 stores the set of targetedadvertisements in the “ad ball,” in the advertisement storage memory120. As part of the processing associated with this block, the mediaplayer 102 may delete some older targeted advertisements stored duringearlier on-line sessions. Alternatively, the media player 102 mayoverwrite some older targeted advertisements by later targetedadvertisements specifically intended to replace the earlier overwrittentargeted advertisement, as for example an updated mobile phone targetedadvertisement may overwrite an earlier mobile phone targetedadvertisement by the same phone manufacturer or service provider.

At block 196 the media content is played by the playback component 118.At block 198 the media player 102 receives a control input. At block 200if the media content will continue to play in response to the controlinput, as for example if a fast forward control input is received, theprocess proceeds to block 202 where a non-interfering targetedadvertisement is selected from the “ad ball” for play. If the mediacontent will not continue to play in response to the control input, asfor example if a pause or stop control input is received, the processproceeds to block 204 where any targeted advertisement is selected fromthe “ad ball” for play. In an embodiment, at both block 202 and block204, the playback component 118 may select the targeted advertisementfor play based at least in part on the current location and/or thecurrent mobility status of the media player 102. In another embodiment,the playback component 118 may select the targeted advertisement forplay based at least in part on the time-of-day. The targetedadvertisement may be selected based on what stored targetedadvertisements have not yet been played, based on how often the storedtargeted advertisements have been played, based on the subject of themedia content, or based on another contextual factor.

At block 206 the playback component 118 plays the selected targetedadvertisement.

Turning now to FIG. 6, a wireless communications system including ahandset embodiment of the media player 102 is discussed. FIG. 6 depictsthe media player 102 as a handset, which is operable for implementingaspects of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure should notbe limited to these implementations. Though illustrated as a mobilephone, the media player 102 may take various forms as enumeratedheretofore. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the mediaplayer 102 may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventorycontrol, job control, and/or task management functions, and so on.

The media player 102 includes a display 402 and a touch-sensitivesurface or keys 404 for input by a user. The display 402 may be used toview media content. The media player 102 may present options for theuser to select, controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors orother indicators for the user to direct. The media player 102 mayfurther accept data entry from the user, including numbers to dial orvarious parameter values for configuring the operation of the handset.The media player 102 may further execute one or more software orfirmware applications in response to user commands. These applicationsmay configure the media player 102 to perform various customizedfunctions in response to user interaction. Additionally, the mediaplayer 102 may be programmed and/or configured over-the-air, for examplefrom the wireless base station 104, a wireless access point, or a peerhandset.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of the media player 102. While a variety ofknown components of handsets 102 are depicted, in an embodiment a subsetof the listed components and/or additional components not listed may beincluded in the media player 102. The media player 102 includes adigital signal processor (DSP) 502 and a memory 504. The memory 504 may,for example, include the advertisement memory storage 120 and the mediacontent memory storage 124. As shown, the media player 102 may furtherinclude an antenna and front end unit 506, a radio frequency (RF)transceiver 508, an analog baseband processing unit 510, a microphone512, an earpiece speaker 514, a headset port 516, an input/outputinterface 518, a removable memory card 520, a universal serial bus (USB)port 522, an infrared port 524, a vibrator 526, a keypad 528, a touchscreen liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch sensitive surface 530,a touch screen/LCD controller 532, a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera534, a camera controller 536, and a global positioning system (GPS)sensor 538. In an embodiment, the media player 102 may include anotherkind of display that does not provide a touch sensitive screen. In anembodiment, the DSP 502 may communicate directly with the memory 504without passing through the input/output interface 518.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the media player 102 inaccordance with embedded software or firmware stored in memory 504 orstored in memory contained within the DSP 502 itself. In addition to theembedded software or firmware, the DSP 502 may execute otherapplications stored in the memory 504 or made available via informationcarrier media such as portable data storage media like the removablememory card 520 or via wired or wireless network communications. Theapplication software may comprise a compiled set of machine-readableinstructions that configure the DSP 502 to provide the desiredfunctionality, or the application software may be high-level softwareinstructions to be processed by an interpreter or compiler to indirectlyconfigure the DSP 502.

The antenna and front end unit 506 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the media player 102to send and receive information from a cellular network or some otheravailable wireless communications network or from a peer handset. In anembodiment, the antenna and front end unit 506 may include multipleantennas to support beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output(MIMO) operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMOoperations may provide spatial diversity which can be used to overcomedifficult channel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. Theantenna and front end unit 506 may include antenna tuning and/orimpedance matching components, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noiseamplifiers.

The RF transceiver 508 provides frequency shifting, converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may beunderstood to include other signal processing functionality such asmodulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving,spreading/despreading, inverse fast fourier transforming (IFFT)/fastfourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and othersignal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, thedescription here separates the description of this signal processingfrom the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signalprocessing to the analog baseband processing unit 510 and/or the DSP 502or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RFtransceiver 508, portions of the antenna and front end 506, and theanalog baseband processing unit 510 may be combined in one or moreprocessing units and/or application specific integrated circuits(ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 510 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 512 and the headset 516 and outputs to theearpiece 514 and the headset 516. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 512 and the earpiece speaker 514 that enable the media player102 to be used as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 510may further include a port for connecting to a headset or otherhands-free microphone and speaker configuration. The analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in onesignal direction and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 510 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 502 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 502 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 502 mayperform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 502 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 502 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastfourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 502.

The DSP 502 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 510. In some embodiments, the communication mayprovide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to contenton the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. Theinput/output interface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card520 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP502. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 522 and the infraredport 524. The USB interface 522 may enable the media player 102 tofunction as a peripheral device to exchange information with a personalcomputer or other computer system. The infrared port 524 and otheroptional ports such as a Bluetooth interface or an IEEE 802.11 compliantwireless interface may enable the media player 102 to communicatewirelessly with other nearby handsets and/or wireless base stations.

The input/output interface 518 may further connect the DSP 502 to thevibrator 526 that, when triggered, causes the media player 102 tovibrate. The vibrator 526 may serve as a mechanism for silently alertingthe user to any of various events such as an incoming call, a new textmessage, and an appointment reminder.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the interface 518 to provideone mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, andotherwise provide input to the media player 102. Another input mechanismmay be the touch screen LCD 530, which may also display text and/orgraphics to the user. The touch screen LCD controller 532 couples theDSP 502 to the touch screen LCD 530.

The CCD camera 534 enables the media player 102 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 502 communicates with the CCD camera 534 via thecamera controller 536. The GPS sensor 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 todecode global positioning system signals, thereby enabling the mediaplayer 102 to determine its position. In another embodiment, a cameraoperating according to a technology other than Charge Coupled Devicecameras may be employed. Various other peripherals may also be includedto provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

FIG. 8 illustrates a software environment 602 that may be implemented bythe DSP 502. The DSP 502 executes operating system drivers 604 thatprovide a platform from which the rest of the software operates. Theoperating system drivers 604 provide drivers for the handset hardwarewith standardized interfaces that are accessible to applicationsoftware. The operating system drivers 604 include applicationmanagement services (“AMS”) 606 that transfer control betweenapplications running on the media player 102. Also shown in FIG. 6 are aweb browser application 608, a playback application 610 associated withthe playback component 118, and JAVA applets 612. The web browserapplication 608 configures the media player 102 to operate as a webbrowser, allowing a user to enter information into forms and selectlinks to retrieve and view web pages. The playback application 610configures the playback component 118 to play media. The JAVA applets612 configure the media player 102 to provide games, utilities, andother functionality.

Portions of the system 100 described above, for example the mediacontent sever 108, the advertisement server 112, and the media player102, may be implemented on any general-purpose computer with sufficientprocessing power, memory resources, and network throughput capability tohandle the necessary workload placed upon it. FIG. 9 illustrates atypical, general-purpose computer system suitable for implementing oneor more embodiments disclosed herein. The computer system 780 includes aprocessor 782 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit orCPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondarystorage 784, read only memory (ROM) 786, random access memory (RAM) 788,input/output (I/O) devices 790, and network connectivity devices 792.The processor may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

The secondary storage 784 is typically comprised of one or more diskdrives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data andas an over-flow data storage device if RAM 788 is not large enough tohold all working data. Secondary storage 784 may be used to storeprograms which are loaded into RAM 788 when such programs are selectedfor execution. The ROM 786 is used to store instructions and perhapsdata which are read during program execution. ROM 786 is a non-volatilememory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative tothe larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM 788 is used tostore volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. When the mediaplayer 102 is implemented as a general purpose computer, for example alaptop computer, the RAM 788 may include the advertisement memorystorage 120 and the media content memory storage 124. Access to both ROM786 and RAM 788 is typically faster than to secondary storage 784.

I/O devices 790 may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystaldisplays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches,dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tapereaders, or other well-known input devices.

The network connectivity devices 792 may take the form of modems, modembanks, ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards,serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface(FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radiotransceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/orglobal system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards,and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices792 may enable the processor 782 to communicate with an Internet or oneor more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplatedthat the processor 782 might receive information from the network, ormight output information to the network in the course of performing theabove-described method steps. Such information, which is oftenrepresented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor782, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, inthe form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executedusing processor 782 for example, may be received from and outputted tothe network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signalor signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signalembodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivitydevices 792 may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors,in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in optical media, for example opticalfiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in thebaseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be orderedaccording to different sequences, as may be desirable for eitherprocessing or generating the information or transmitting or receivingthe information. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrierwave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed,referred to herein as the transmission medium, may be generatedaccording to several methods well known to one skilled in the art.

The processor 782 executes instructions, codes, computer programs,scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk(these various disk based systems may all be considered secondarystorage 784), ROM 786, RAM 788, or the network connectivity devices 792.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein. For example, the variouselements or components may be combined or integrated in another systemor certain features may be omitted or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating witheach other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through someinterface, device, or intermediate component, whether electrically,mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions,and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could bemade without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of distributing advertising, comprising:embedding, by a media content server, a metatag in a media content,wherein the metatag comprises identifying information; analyzing, by anadvertisement server, a usage history of a media player to identify ausage profile associated with the media player; selecting, by theadvertisement server, a plurality of targeted advertisements based onthe usage profile associated with the media player; transmitting, by theadvertisement server, the plurality of targeted advertisements tostorage on the media player during intervals of network connectivity ofthe media player; storing, by the media player, the media contentcomprising the metatag; playing, by the media player, the stored mediacontent on the media player; encountering, by the media player, themetatag during the playing of the media content; in response to theencountering of the metatag, selecting, by the media player, a relevanttargeted advertisement of the plurality of targeted advertisements basedon the identifying information in the metatag, wherein only a subset ofthe plurality of targeted advertisements satisfies the identifyinginformation; and playing, by the media player, the relevant targetedadvertisement.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifyinginformation in the metatag designates a brand name, and whereinselecting the relevant targeted advertisement includes selecting atleast one of the plurality of targeted advertisements that is associatedwith the brand name.
 3. The method of claim 1, further includingselecting, by the media player, another targeted advertisement of theplurality of targeted advertisements in storage on the media playerbased on the media player receiving a control input.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, further including: creating, by the media player, a log of acontrol input received by the media player during the playing of therelevant targeted advertisement; and transmitting, by the media player,the log to the advertisement server during an interval of networkconnectivity of the media player, wherein targeted advertisements areselected by the advertisement server based in part on the log.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the identifying information of the metatagdesignates at least one of a subject category, a brand name, an agebracket, an income bracket, a regional designation, a sex, an educationlevel, or a demographic signature.
 6. The method of claim 1, furtherincluding selecting, by the media player, another targeted advertisementof the plurality of targeted advertisements in storage on the mediaplayer based at least in part on one of a time-of-day, a mobility statusof the media player, or a location of the media player.
 7. The method ofclaim 3, further including playing, by the media player, the othertargeted advertisement of the plurality of targeted advertisements onthe media player without substantially interfering with an interactionof a user with the media player.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein thesubstantial interference with the interaction of the user with the mediaplayer is avoided by selecting one of an audio-only targetedadvertisement or a scrolling message targeted advertisement.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the media content is one of a multimediacontent, a television show, a digital video disk, a video game disk, anon-line game, a compact disk audio recording, a streaming video, a radiobroadcast, or an audio recording file.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of targeted advertisements is stored on the mediaplayer over a plurality of separate network connectivity sessions. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the playing of the media content ispaused during the playing of the relevant targeted advertisement, andwherein the media player ignores control inputs to stop, fast forwardthrough, and skip over the relevant targeted advertisement during theplaying of the relevant targeted advertisement.
 12. A method ofdistributing advertising, comprising: embedding, by a media contentserver, a metatag in a media content, wherein the metatag comprisesidentifying information; analyzing, by an advertisement server, a usagehistory of a media player to identify a usage profile associated withthe media player; selecting, by the advertisement server, a firstplurality of targeted advertisements based on the usage profileassociated with the media player; transmitting, by the advertisementserver, the first plurality of targeted advertisements to storage on themedia player during intervals of network connectivity of the mediaplayer; storing, by the media player, the media content comprising themetatag; playing for a first time, by the media player, the stored mediacontent; encountering, by the media player, the metatag during the firstplaying of the media content; in response to the encountering of themetatag, selecting, by the media player, a first relevant targetedadvertisement of the first plurality of targeted advertisements based onthe identifying information in the metatag, wherein only a subset of thefirst plurality of targeted advertisements satisfies the identifyinginformation; playing, by the media player, the first relevant targetedadvertisement; analyzing again, by the advertisement server, the usagehistory of the media player to identify an updated usage profileassociated with the media player; selecting, by the advertisementserver, a second plurality of targeted advertisements based on theupdated usage profile associated with the media player; transmitting, bythe advertisement server, the second plurality of targetedadvertisements to storage on the media player during intervals ofnetwork connectivity of the media player; playing for a second time, bythe media player, the stored media content; encountering again, by themedia player, the metatag during the second playing of the mediacontent; in response to encountering the metatag again, selecting, bythe media player, a second relevant targeted advertisement of the secondplurality of targeted advertisements based on the identifyinginformation in the metatag, wherein only a subset of the secondplurality of targeted advertisements satisfies the identifyinginformation; and playing, by the media player, the second relevanttargeted advertisement of the second plurality of targetedadvertisements, wherein the second relevant targeted advertisement isdifferent from the first relevant targeted advertisement.
 13. The methodof claim 12, wherein the transmitting of the second plurality oftargeted advertisements occurs after the transmission of the firstplurality of targeted advertisements, and wherein at least one of thesecond plurality of targeted advertisements replaces one of the firstplurality of targeted advertisements in storage on the media player. 14.The method of claim 12, wherein the second plurality of targetedadvertisements is stored on the media player over a plurality ofseparate network connectivity sessions, and wherein the second pluralityof targeted advertisements replace some of the first plurality oftargeted advertisements.
 15. The method of claim 12, further including:creating, by the media player, a log of a control input received by themedia player during the playing of the first relevant targetedadvertisement; and transmitting, by the media player, the log to theadvertisement server during an interval of network connectivity of themedia player, wherein targeted advertisements are selected by theadvertisement server based in part on the log.
 16. The method of claim12, wherein the identifying information of the metatag designates atleast one of a subject category, a brand name, an age bracket, an incomebracket, a regional designation, a sex, an education level, or ademographic signature.
 17. The method of claim 12 further includingselecting, by the media player, another targeted advertisement of thefirst plurality of targeted advertisements in storage on the mediaplayer based at least in part on one of a time-of-day, a mobility statusof the media player, or a location of the media player.
 18. The methodof claim 12, wherein the media content is one of a multimedia content, atelevision show, a digital video disk, a video game disk, an on-linegame, a compact disk audio recording, a streaming video, a radiobroadcast, or an audio recording file.